We just returned from the ski trip men’s retreat.
We were eight; we skied about 25 km. There was one unbeliever. We had Communion right there Thursday night.The weather was mostly bad, windy and snowing. But anyway, we had great time together. We could serve each other and we could share our faith with the non-Christian.
Next week I’m starting small groups again – in Murmansk, Olenegorsk and Nickel.
The following blog entry, by Brian Schroller, was prompted by a meeting Yura Belonozhkin had with some men when he was recently in the States. I think you’ll appreciate the message:
“What we find in our heroes and martyrs is a living witness to the fact that the true life of faith can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if one takes it on bravely and gallantly, as something of a grand adventure in which we set out into an unknown country to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle.” — Alan Hirsch
He was not what I expected at all. He was humble, of average height, and had pretty long hair. The iconic images I had of Russian men, fashioned from far too many movies, would have given him well over 6 feet, a crew cut, and a steely resolved Communist jaw. He was none of those things. I wrestled for a few minutes with unbelief given the stories I had heard of this man.
And then he started to speak. Politely answering questions at first and then his masculine heart for leading other men started to rise. Hailing from northernmost Russia, he does similar men’s ministry to mine in the most inhospitable climate you could imagine; culturally, spiritually, and even meteorologically. He is a fierce lion among lambs who have lost their shepherd.
His target is generations of Russian men ravaged by fatherlessness and the hopelessness that Communism has wrought. You essentially exterminate a generation of fathers and then rob every other man of the ability to choose his future, his means, his way of life, and even what he believes…rob him of his ability to lead…and what you find is a country full of passive and discouraged men. That is the current state of Mother Russia.
In both Spring and Winter he leads groups of men toward the Arctic circle with the restoration of their masculine identity as their only quarry. He is a freedom fighter for hope, healing, and establishing an intimate relationship with the Wild One whose image we bear. He is tireless, impassioned, and startlingly humble.
If I hiked men toward the top of the world, drilled holes in ice, caught fresh salmon, and then ceremonially shared raw bites of the catch with men I had led there to introduce to Jesus, you couldn’t shut me up about it. If I sat on [a ship] in the exact chair of my chaplain father, chaplain for Communism by the way, and introduced men to life, I’d be working on the screenplay. Yura, however, seems almost embarrassed that God has chosen him for such a story.
Check out his story and images here.
http://www.stoneworksinternational.com/programs/far-northern-russia/
His life and story have been incredibly disruptive to mine through our brief engagement.
(. . . Me and my mates are endeavoring to bring he and his ministry partner back for a boot camp (men’s ministry) in the Fall and some of us are hoping to join him for one of his.)
I led a men’s retreat in Norway last month. Here is a video of our trip.
I didn’t mention it in the video, but I want to express my heart-felt appreciation to Vestre Jacobselv Camping leaders, and especially to Oyvind Kjelling and Siren Jankila, the folks who helped us all the way through the retreat and were a great blessing for all of us.
We’ve just completed a short video of Yura and Masha’s ministry in the far north of Russia:
I’m happy to tell you that we got back from the March retreat in Varanger, Norway. We have been tremendously blessed through this fellowship, teaching, hardships and just time spent together with the brothers.
We had a team from Russia: 2 guys from Nickel, 2 from Polarny, 1 from Zelenoborsky and 2 from Murmansk. There also was a team from Germany – 5 men from Detmold, a city in Northern Germany. Also 3 men from local church in Vadso joined us, and a guy from Vestre Jacobselv. So we were an international multi lingual and multi cultural team.
We had really great time. men opened their hearts and poured out their lives, confessed sins and shared their testimonies. We listened about Fartherhood, about purposes in life and Manhood Plan. We participated at Sunday Service in Vadso Church and after that we had a very extreme ski trip where we practiced all the lessons we learned at the seminar.
It was really a blessing, this time was filled with anointing, openness, brotherhood, with His presence. We see God is starting something big here, and we will keep working with Him.
I just returned from my trip to Norway. It went not exactly as I planned, but it was fruitful and interesting.
First, we went to Vestre Jacobselv, to the Lutheran camp. The guys there happened to be very friendly and interested in this event. The site is just perfect. It has a large meeting hall, a dining room, very cozy rooms. They are offering full service – all meals, sauna, everything.
Their price is 800 NOK a person per 3 days ($180), but they make discounts for those who are not able to pay, down to zero. Very interesting system. You evaluate your financial ability and according to that you make decision whether you pay 100%, 50%, or even 0%. You have to be fair with God, yourself and the guys at the camp. I like that!
It looks like there will be more men from Norway attending. We had a meeting in Vadso church, and a few men decided to attend (at right). We couldn’t make it to Tromso, it appeared to be much farther than I expected… But that’s ok… The Lutheran priest, Arne, is coming from Lakselv probably with some men.
We also tried to scout the route for the trip after the conference but haven’t completed it. We skied 18 km to a lake, which appeared to be very small and not very attractive. And we were too exhausted to ski to another lake right after that. So this question still needs to be solved.
But I’m happy with what we have achieved. Now we have much certainty about where we will gather and who will be there.
Pastor Boimah ‘MaX’ Yekee preaching in Norwegian and English in Pentecostal Church in Vadso, Finnmark, Norway:
We recently had a men’s conference. It was the 1st event for men in the Murmansk Region in history. That fact itself was encouraging and exciting.
We had it in the Olenegorsk Church. This is the only church in the area that can host such a conference because they own a pretty large hall and a few rooms. And it is located right in the middle of the Region, so it is easy for the men from opposite sides of the Region to come there.
We had 3 speakers: myself, pastor Sergey Latyshev from Archangelsk and pastor Martin Reen from Sweden.
My topics were:
1. Manhood in the state of confusion – the historical roots
2. Genesis and manhood
3. Biblical definition of Manhood
Sergey’s topic was The Role of the Man in Marriage. Martin’s topic was Sexual Purity.
We started on Friday, Dec 7th, at 7.00 p.m. There were over 60 men that night. Men came from Murmansk, Nickel, Olenegorsk, Monchegorsk, Apatity, Kirovsk, Kandalaksha and Tuloma. There were many men who I didn’t know, and who never attended a men’s event, a camp, a retreat or a men’s group. But for some who did, some part of the message was familiar.
I promised everybody “a non-compromising, non-politically correct, sincere talk about non-popular topics”. And we had it all!
The first non-popular thing, and one of the best things in the conference was Worship. Pastor Sergey is also a great musician. He leads worship in his church, and he also plays in a thrash-metal band. It all resulted in a powerful, anointed and heavy-sounding worship during all the conference. We had the on-the-spot worship band. Sergey played the bass, I played the drums, a guy from Olenegorsk church played the rhythm guitar, and another guy from Murmansk played the lead guitar. For me, that was the best worship band ever. I really enjoyed flowing in the Spirit during the worship and powerful anointing.
The other thing was the message. Sergey didn’t send me his teaching, although I asked him for that. I was a little worried about it. I didn’t know him, didn’t know his teaching, I only knew the topic. But I know there are a few points of view in Christianity on this topic. So I was worried that our views wouldn’t match. But they did.
So all our topics were in a row and perfectly matched each other, and were extensions of each other. And they were not politically correct! (The very thing I like.) And not popular at all. I’ve never heard in a church such a teaching before. We in churches don’t like those topics, we try to avoid them, because they might hurt somebody’s feelings.
We all tried to focus the men on the importance of smaller groups. The important part of all message was accountability and transparency.
So we had 3 big sessions on Saturday.
We’ve decided to have a conference like that in Archangelsk someday. Sergey, Martin, and me. Sergey liked it a lot, Martin did, too. Martin wants to have this conference in Sweden, and we will do it soon.
The next big event will be in March, 1 – 3, in Vardo, Norway. That is going to be an international retreat. But now we will focus again on small groups, and maybe we start new groups after the conference. In Feb we will start our short trips (2 – 3 days) with small groups (up to 7 men).
That’s all for now, thank you for your support, for your prayers!
Blessings
Yura
Father at the bridge of his old ship.
My father is a retired Navy Officer. He served in the Soviet Navy in the 70s and 80s.
His position was called ‘Commander’s Assistant for the Political Aspect’. This meant that he was in charge of all communist ideological work on the ship.
He taught Lenin’s theory (communism and atheism) to the crew, recruited officers and sailors into the communist party, and he was responsible to check if they really lived the communist lifestyle.
Every Monday they had a special session on the ship when he did the teaching. This tradition is still here, except Lenin’s teaching doesn’t exist anymore. In fact, the commanders don’t really know what to fill this time with.
Last year, after 7 years of working with the Navy, God opened the doors for me to be with the very same unit and on the very same ship where my father served. (It was a surprise she was still working!)
So one Monday morning I found myself on the same ship, in the same room, at the very same table where my father taught atheism and communism, and I was teaching the Gospel to those guys! That was such an interesting feeling.
My father (on the left) with his old veteran friend next to their old ship.
We are preparing for a Men’s Conference for later this month. So, I have to go to Olenegorsk and spend there almost all my free time getting ready. I’m rehearsing with the worship band (I play the drums!). We’re learning new songs and preparing housing and meals for the participants.
Oh, we have collected 15000 rubles ($500) for the loaf.
Here are some pictures of recent ministry –
Olenegorsk Men’s Meeting
Men’s Meeting in Nikel
More men! This time in Murmansk.
seminar in Murmansk with Martin Reen from Sweden
Recently I went to Sweden with three other men from our ministry. We visited three churches and spent some time with the pastors of those churches. We told them about a conference in December and a retreat in March, which they were especially interested in since it will be in Norway. We also got to meet a missionary from the United States in Sweden.
Blessings,
Yura
Stoneworks International
PO Box 464839
Lawrenceville, GA 30042.
(678) 436-3324
Because of your generous donations ministries are being funded and lives are being changed throughout the world. Click Here
